Symptoms

A limited number of Surface Pro 3 owners find that their battery can no longer hold a charge, and it looks like the battery capacity has diminished. With the power plugged in, the Surface Pro 3 is fine, but the battery will run out quickly once it's not being charged.

Cause

On a limited number of Surface Pro 3 devices, an error condition occurs that causes the full charge capacity of the battery to be misreported to the operating system and device firmware. When this condition occurs, the system no longer charges the battery to its full actual capacity, and the Surface is unable to function on battery power.

Think of this like a fuel gauge in a car, where the car looks to the fuel gauge to determine how much to fill the tank. In this case, if the fuel gauge isn’t working right, the car would also not be able to fill the tank—even though the tank is fine.

Resolution

An update is now available to correct this issue. This update corrects the logic in the firmware component that functions as the “fuel gauge” for the Surface Pro 3 battery, so that the actual battery capacity on devices with this particular part is accurately reported. This allows the Surface to once again leverage the maximum charge capacity of the battery.

Once this fix is applied to a Surface Pro 3, the reported full charge capacity will self-correct over the next several charge and discharge cycles. Surface Pro 3 devices that previously experienced the problem can now operate on battery power, and the issue won’t occur on devices that haven't experienced the issue.

How to get the update

Things to check first

Before you begin, make sure your Surface Pro 3 is plugged directly into AC power using the standard AC power adapter. Do not use the Surface Docking Station. Disconnect any USB devices or external monitors, and check that Windows shows a 40% charge or greater when you hover over the icon in the taskbar.

Frequently asked questions

We’ve gathered additional details about which customers were affected and are committed to making sure that the people who experienced this issue are taken care of. We have reached out to those customers and all refunds were processed in October 2016.

For the most reliable operation of your Surface Pro 3, we recommend you install the latest update. This version replaces Surface Pro Embedded Controller Firmware driver version 38.10.90.0, released on 8/29/2016.

Ensure that you're directly connected to AC power. Don't use the Surface Pro 3 Docking Station. Also make sure that you don't have any USB peripherals or external monitors plugged into the device.

Make sure that the light on the tip of the power supply where it connects to the Surface Pro 3 is lit and not blinking. If the light isn't on or is blinking, there may be a problem with your power supply. If the light is on but the device won't boot, try reversing the direction of the connector to the device to ensure proper contact.

You can also visit a nearby Microsoft store location and ask a Microsoft Answer Desk technician for assistance in powering the device and applying this update.

After you install the update and restart your Surface Pro 3 a second time, you'll immediately be able to start using it on battery again. Over the next five charge and discharge cycles, the gauge will stabilize as it relearns the actual battery capacity in your Surface Pro 3.

For the most reliable operation of your Surface Pro 3, we recommend you install this update. The update is offered to and installed on all Surface Pro 3 devices. The new battery driver logic will only take effect on the limited number of Surface Pro 3 devices impacted by this issue.

No. The batteries in your Surface Pro 3 weren't damaged in any way. The battery gauge incorrectly reported the battery capacity even though the batteries themselves were capable of holding a larger charge.